Familiar arguments at New York Lasix conference

Veterinarians, researchers, trainers, owners, and regulators rehashed arguments over the proper role for the regulated anti-bleeding medication furosemide during a day-long conference Tuesday in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., organized by the New York Gaming Commission.

The conference did little to resolve the debate over the raceday use of the drug, which is legal in every North American racing jurisdiction, including New York. Supporters and opponents of the drug’s use in North America trudged along well-worn paths while reading from prepared comments or ad-libbing answers to commissioners’ questions, breaking little new ground on a subject that has polarized several factions of the racing industry for the past five years.

It is unclear what the result of the summit will be. Peter J. Moschetti, a commissioner, said at one point during the conference that the gambling commission had organized the meeting to educate itself on the issue, but he also said toward the end that he had not yet been able to form an opinion.

“Today is not a day where I’d come away saying I have a strong feeling one way or another,” Moschetti said.

The vast majority of panelists said they supported the current U.S. policy, which allows for the regulated use of the drug four hours prior to post time in the vast majority of racing states. Many of the panels were stacked with trainers and researchers, most of whom have cited a study completed in 2009 showing that the drug was effective in mitigating the incidence and severity of bleeding to argue that use of furosemide is humane.

Several other supporters of the raceday use of the drug have contended that opponents have mischaracterized the drug’s abilities in order to advance other agendas, and others stated that the use of the drug has become a scapegoat to avoid dealing with other problems facing the industry that have had a far larger impact on the health of the sport.

“I think there are a lot bigger problems out there than Lasix,” trainer Mark Casse said. “If you talk to major handicappers, and I know a few of them, they don’t have any problem with Lasix.”

Opponents included Arthur Hancock, the central Kentucky owner and breeder, who said that the public and “casual racing fans” cannot distinguish between the use of a drug like furosemide, which is also known as Lasix, and an illegal drug like heroin. Several participants from Hong Kong also said that the jurisdiction’s longtime ban on use of Lasix for racing and training has had no negative impacts on their racing product.

Researchers who appeared during an early panel of the conference agreed that much more scientific study needs to be done on the causes and treatment of EIPH, the acronym for Exercise Induced Pulmonary Hemorrhage, or bleeding in the lungs. Furosemide is a diuretic, and research has strongly suggested that the drug is efficacious in at least mitigating EIPH due to its ability to reduce capillary pressure. But little research has been done on finding alternatives that would directly treat the condition, the researchers said.

Earlier this month, the American Association of Equine Practitioners said that it would form a committee to identify potential new drugs or treatment regimens that would be as effective as furosemide without being administered on raceday. The effort to conduct those studies is expected to be expensive and take at least several years, but several panelists Tuesday indicated that they were highly supportive of the effort.

“We are prepared to work with the scientific community to find those alternatives,” said Alan Foreman, the chief executive officer of the National Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, a collection of horsemen’s groups that support the raceday use of furosemide.

As for immediate action, a panel of veterinarians was unanimous when asked by the commission’s equine medical director, Dr. Scott Palmer, to describe the effect of a state like New York taking unilateral action to ban the raceday use of the drug without other states taking similar action. All said that the racing industry in New York would be damaged significantly by the loss of horses moving to states that continued to allow raceday use.